Combustion chamber inserts and associated methods of use and manufacture

ABSTRACT

Combustion chamber inserts and associated methods of use and manufacture are disclosed herein. In some embodiments, a combustion chamber assembly comprises a cylinder having a cylinder wall at least partially defining a combustion chamber, an intake valve, an exhaust valve, and a piston. The intake valve has an intake valve surface exposed to the combustion chamber, the exhaust valve has an exhaust valve surface exposed to the combustion chamber, and the piston has a piston surface exposed to the combustion chamber. At least one of the cylinder wall, the intake valve surface, the exhaust valve surface, and/or the piston surface includes an insulative portion composed of a synthetic matrix characterization of crystals that is configured to retain heat in the combustion chamber that is generated from a combustion event in the combustion chamber.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/523,275, filed Aug. 12, 2011, entitled, “COMBUSTIONCHAMBER INSERTS AND ASSOCIATED METHODS OF USE AND MANUFACTURE,” which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following disclosure relates generally to combustion chamber insertsand, more specifically, to combustion chamber inserts having heatblocking, heat retaining, heat transferring, and/or insulativeproperties.

BACKGROUND

Internal combustion systems include combustion of a fuel with anoxidizer in a combustion chamber. The hot gases produced by thecombustion event occupy a greater volume than the original fuel andcreate an increase in pressure within the limited volume of the chamber.This pressure can be used to do work (e.g., move a piston), generatinguseful mechanical energy. Internal combustion systems are generally mostefficient when there is more complete fuel burning at highertemperatures in the chamber. However, combustion chamber liners orcoatings designed to improve wear-resistance often increase thermalconduction of the heat outside the combustion chamber. Accordingly,there exists a need for mechanisms to improve combustion efficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a combustion chamberassembly configured in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a combustion chamberassembly configured in accordance with another embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a combustion chamberassembly configured in accordance with another embodiment of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure describes devices for providing combustionchamber assemblies with inserts for receiving, retaining, transferring,and/or insulating heat in a combustion chamber. The disclosure furtherdescribes associated systems, assemblies, components, and methodsregarding the same. Certain details are set forth in the followingdescription and in FIGS. 1-3 to provide a thorough understanding ofvarious embodiments of the disclosure. However, other details describingwell-known structures and systems often associated with internalcombustion engines, combustion chambers, pistons, injectors, igniters,and/or other aspects of combustion systems are not set forth below toavoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of various embodiments ofthe disclosure. Thus, it will be appreciated that several of the detailsset forth below are provided to describe the following embodiments in amanner sufficient to enable a person skilled in the relevant art to makeand use the disclosed embodiments. Several of the details and advantagesdescribed below, however, may not be necessary to practice certainembodiments of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a combustion chamberassembly 100 configured in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. As will be described in further detail below, the combustionchamber assembly 100 can include one or more heat-retaining portions, orinserts, capable of directional heat transfer. The inserts can have aninsulative property for blocking heat from traveling in a firstdirection (e.g., to other parts of the engine), and can have efficientheat transfer properties for facilitating heat transfer or temporarilyholding heat and then transferring heat in a second direction (e.g.,downstream to facilitate a phase transition of exhaust products).

In the illustrated embodiment, the combustion chamber assembly 100includes a combustion chamber 104 at least partially defined by anengine cylinder wall 118. An injector 116 is configured to provide fueland/or coolant injection to the combustion chamber 104. In someembodiments, the injector 116 is a fuel-injector/igniter having featuressuch as those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/027,051,titled, “FUEL INJECTOR ASSEMBLIES HAVING ACOUSTICAL FORCE MODIFIERS ANDASSOCIATED METHODS OF USE AND MANUFACTURE,” filed Feb. 14, 2011, andincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The combustion chamber assembly 100 can further include one or moreintake valves 112 and one or more exhaust valves 114 that allow fluid(e.g., air) flow into and out of the combustion chamber 104,respectively. The intake and exhaust valves 112, 114 can be movablebetween open and closed positions relative to the cylinder wall 118 andcan have surfaces exposed to the combustion chamber 104. The combustionchamber assembly 100 can further include an energy transfer device, suchas a piston 120, moveable relative to the cylinder wall 118. In someembodiments, the piston 120 can be a composite piston made ofinternally-reinforced material, such as ceramic, carbon-carboncomposite, and/or nano-spaced arrays of laminar graphite or boronnitride. The piston 120 can be annularly surrounded by piston rings 122configured to inhibit pressurized fluid from escaping the combustionchamber 104 via space between the piston 120 and the cylinder wall 118.The piston 120 can have one or more surfaces exposed to the combustionchamber 104.

The combustion chamber assembly 100 can further include a sensor and/ortransmitting component for detecting and relaying combustion chamberproperties and events such as temperatures and pressure and providingfeedback to the controller 126. The sensor can be integral to the intakevalve 112, exhaust valve 114, injector 116, or other components of thecombustion chamber assembly 104 such as component 106. In someembodiments, for example, the sensor can include opticalinstrumentation, such as infrared temperature monitoring components inthe fuel injector 116, and/or a suitable thermistors or thermocouplesthat monitor the combustion chamber or exhaust temperature. Combustiondata can be transmitted via wireless, wired, optical, or othertransmission mediums to the controller 126 or other components. Suchfeedback enables extremely rapid and adaptive adjustments for desiredfuel injection factors and characteristics including, for example, fueldelivery pressure, fuel injection initiation timing, combustion chamberpressure and/or temperature, the timing of one, multiple or continuousplasma ignitions or capacitive discharges, etc. For example, the sensorcan provide feedback to the controller 126 as to whether the measurableconditions within the combustion chamber 104, such as temperature orpressure, fall within ranges that have been predetermined to providedesired combustion efficiency. Upon combustion chamber componentsreaching the desired temperature, one or more cooling and work producingcycles are performed as may be indicated by the sensors.

As described above, the combustion chamber assembly 100 can include oneor more inserts that can receive, retain, and/or transfer heat thatwould otherwise be wastefully dissipated from the combustion chamber104. In the illustrated embodiment, the combustion chamber assembly 100includes valve inserts 108 on the intake valve 112 and/or the exhaustvalve 114. A piston insert 110 is coupled to a surface of the piston 120facing the combustion chamber 104. The combustion chamber assembly 100further includes a cylinder insert 106 on the cylinder wall 118. Thevalve inserts 108, the piston insert 110, and the cylinder insert 106(referred to collectively as “inserts”) can be integral to thecombustion chamber assembly 100 or can be separate components coupled tothe assembly 100. If the inserts are separate components, they can beattached to the combustion chamber assembly 100 by glue, solder, braze,screws, latches, or other attachment mechanisms. In embodiments in whichthe inserts are an integral portion of the combustion chamber assembly100, the inserts can comprise a coating that is applied to combustionchamber assembly 100 components that are exposed to heat fromcombustion.

In various embodiments, the inserts can include the following materials:boron nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon nitride, graphite, graphene,carbon, beryllia, magnesium aluminum boride, carbon and boron, carbonand silicon, carbon and nitride, silicon carbide, silicon boride, anarchitectural construct, combinations of these materials, or othermaterials having similarly suitable thermal properties. In someembodiments, the coating material can include architectural construct,as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/027,214 titled,“ARCHITECTURAL CONSTRUCT HAVING FOR EXAMPLE A PLURALITY OF ARCHITECTURALCRYSTALS,” filed Feb. 14, 2011, and herein incorporated by reference inits entirety. In some embodiments, the inserts comprise a syntheticmatrix characterization of crystals that are configured to retain heat.In several embodiments, the material has a zero, or near-zero, thermalexpansion.

Some factors that determine an appropriate material choice include themass of the material, the specific heat, the latent heat ofsolidification, the surface to volume ratio, the surfacefinish/reflectivity, the color, the ability to include fins on thematerial for increased dimension and surface area, and the types ofinteraction the material has with flowing fluids, radiation, etc. Incertain embodiments, the insert can include parallel, spaced-apartlayers of microscopically-thin deposits of various materials chosen forparticular thermal properties. For example, the insert can comprisespaced-apart graphite or graphene plates, which provide a low-densitymaterial having a relatively high heat-transfer. In further embodiments,the spaced-apart layers can be connected to cooling or heating sourcesto enhance conduction, radiation, and/or evaporation/condensationby/through the layers.

In some embodiments, the insert can include different materials ondifferent layers or portions of the insert. For example, a materialhaving low thermal conduction could contact a combustion chamberassembly 100 component, such as the cylinder wall 118 or the piston 120,and another material having a high heat capacity could be layered on thefirst material and could face the combustion chamber 104. In someembodiments, using combinations of multiple materials on the insertssupports multi-phase systems, particularly in large engines withrelatively low piston or rotor speeds. For example, the inserts caninclude thermal shock resistance material such as spinels or can includean architectural construct as a piston insert 110; diamond-coatingcontaining one or more annular rings of sodium, lithium, phosphorous,sulfur, or indium for a cylinder wall insert 106; and eutectoids andeutectics as valve inserts 108.

The insert coating can be applied by various techniques, including, forexample, anodizing, diffusion bonding and/or processes that formcarbides, borides, and nitrides (e.g., aluminum nitride ionimplantation, boron ion implantation), carburizing with boron,carburizing with nitride, carburizing with molybdenum, and/orcarburizing with magnesium. In some embodiments, a coating can beapplied by hardening the surface of a component of the combustionchamber assembly 100. In some embodiments, the surface can be hardenedwith a material selected to provide the surface with extended wearcapability, reduced starting friction, reduced sliding friction, and/orimproved corrosion resistance. The process can further include smoothingat least one surface of the component and applying a treatment to thesurface such as ion implantation, chemical vapor deposition,electroplating, electroless plating, sputtering, flame spraying, plasmaspraying, diamond-like carbon deposition, magnesiumaluminumborondeposition, nickel deposition, chromium deposition, aluminum deposition,aluminum nitride deposition, and/or titanium boride deposition. In otherembodiments, the coatings can be applied using alternate or additionaltechniques.

In various embodiments, the inserts can be oriented in the combustionchamber assembly 100 to achieve a desired thermal effect. For example,in some embodiments, inserts (e.g., the crystal matrix of the insertmaterial) can be oriented to be transverse to the direction of heattransfer to improve thermal retention. In further embodiments, insertscan have portions oriented at different angles relative to one another.For example, in a particular embodiment, one portion of an insert caninsulate the top of the piston 120 while another portion insulates thecylinder wall 118. These portions of the insert can be oriented indifferent directions relative to one another (and yet both be orientedtransverse to heat flow) to provide optimal insulation for thecombustion chamber 104. In still further embodiments, a single insertcan have layers oriented at nonzero angles relative to one another onthe same portion of the insert. For example, an insert insulating thetop of the piston 120 can have some layers oriented transversely to theheat transfer direction and other layers oriented obliquely to the heattransfer direction.

In operation, the inserts act as a thermal flywheel, and can provideinertia against temperature fluctuations in the components beneath orthat support the inserts in combustion chamber 104. The inserts block,seal, reflect, or otherwise retain heat in the combustion chamber 104 toprevent the heat from conducting away from the combustion chamber 104.Heat that is not conducted and/or reflected into the combustion chambercan be held or retained in thermal flywheel heat transfer portions to besubsequently transferred to work, producing expansive substances duringa cooling phase in the combustion chamber and/or in an additionalexpander. In some embodiments, the inserts can serve to as a thermalflywheels to heat/cool phase change substances. The inserts can be usedin conjunction with cooling methods and systems described in U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/027,170, titled, “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FORADAPTIVELY COOLING COMBUSTION CHAMBERS IN ENGINES,” filed Feb. 14, 2011,and herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The inserts can also be configured to rapidly give up retained heatduring a cooling phase, such as when coolant is injected into thecombustion chamber 104 such as during the intake, compression, powerand/or exhaust strokes. The amount of energy retained by the inserts,and the ability to retain or release that heat, is determined by thesize, placement, shape, and material choice of the inserts. The energyis released to the fluids in the combustion chamber by contact,radiation, or other energy-emission transfer. As described above,sensors in the combustion chamber 104 can provide data to the controller126, including brake mean effective pressure indicators such ascombustion chamber pressure, positive or negative flywheel acceleration,the temperature of the combustion chamber, and/or the temperature of theinserts. The controller 126 can in turn manipulate the combustionchamber 104 conditions by controlling, for example, the frequency ofcooling intake, cooling compression, cooling work, and/or the coolingexhaust cycle in a combustion chamber 104. This sensor/controller 104interaction thereby determines how much heat is reflected by the insertsand how much is held or retained.

In the illustrated embodiment, the valve inserts 108 face the combustionchamber 104 and have thermal properties that can receive, retain, and/ortransfer heat in the combustion chamber 104. The piston insert 110 canblock heat transfer to other portions of the piston 120 or combustionchamber assembly 100. The cylinder insert 106 can block heat transferfrom the combustion chamber 104 to other zones of the engine assembly.The inserts can together hold the heat of combustion and release it backto the air and fuel and/or the combustion gases in the combustionchamber 104 for the next stroke. In various embodiments, the inserts canbe applied to one or more of the piston 120; intake and/or exhaustvalves 112, 114; exposed portions of the combustion chamber 104 head;cylinder wall 118; and/or piston rings 122 and/or to the exhaust gaspassageways. In further embodiments, the combustion chamber assembly 100can include more or fewer inserts than illustrated, and the inserts canbe located on additional or alternate surfaces of the combustion chamberassembly 100.

The inserts can improve the efficiency of combustion by retaining heatin the combustion chamber 104, increasing fuel-combustion efficiency,and decreasing fuel requirements. The inserts can additionally reducethe demand for general cooling (e.g., a water jacket), as more of theheat generated in the combustion chamber 104 stays in the combustionchamber 104 and does not need to be dissipated. Furthermore, wear onengine parts caused by exposure to conducted heat is reduced, as fewerengine parts are exposed to high-temperature conducted heat fromcombustion.

The features of the combustion chamber assembly 100 described above withreference to FIG. 1 can be included in any of the embodiments describedbelow with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 or in other embodiments ofcombustion chamber assemblies that have been described in publicationsthat have been incorporated by reference herein. Furthermore, some orall of the features of the combustion chamber assembly 100 can be usedwith a wide variety of engines including, but not limited to, two-strokeand four-stroke piston engines, rotary combustion engines, gas turbineengines, or combinations of these. The features of the combustionchamber assembly 100 can likewise be used with a wide variety of fueltypes including diesel, gasoline, natural gas (including methane,ethane, and propane), renewable fuels (including fuel alcohols—both wetand dry—and nitrogenous fuels such as ammonia), and designer fuels.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a combustion chamberassembly 200 configured in accordance with another embodiment of thedisclosure. The combustion chamber assembly 200 includes severalfeatures generally similar to the combustion chamber assembly 100described above with reference to FIG. 1. For example, the combustionchamber assembly 200 includes an injector 116 configured to provide fueland/or coolant injection to a combustion chamber 104. The combustionchamber 104 is formed from an engine cylinder wall 118, cylinder insert206, piston 211, piston insert 207, engine head 201, valve 112, valve114, and valve inserts 108. The combustion chamber assembly 200 canfurther include the mechanical operating assembly of one or more intakevalves 112, one or more exhaust valves 114, and a moveable piston 220annularly surrounded by piston rings 122.

As described above, the combustion chamber assembly 200 can include oneor more inserts capable of acting as thermal flywheels to block,reflect, retain, insulate, or transfer heat. For example, in theillustrated embodiment, the combustion chamber assembly 200 includesvalve inserts 108 on the intake valve 112 and the exhaust valve 114facing the combustion chamber 104. The combustion chamber assembly 200further includes a piston insert 210 attached or incorporated within thepiston 220. The positioning of the piston insert 210 thereby inhibitsheat from combustion from migrating below the piston insert 210 and thepiston rings 122. In further embodiments, the combustion chamberassembly 200 can include additional piston inserts located on other oradditional surfaces of the piston 220 and/or in head 201. In operation,the one or more inserts protect the engine by retaining the heat in thecombustion chamber rather than allowing it to impacts the enginedurability, the insert further directs and reradiates the heat from thecombustion event through an exhaust port.

In addition to the valve and piston inserts 108, 210, the combustionchamber assembly 200 further includes a combustion chamber insert 207that substantially covers an interior surface of the combustion chamber104. The combustion chamber insert 207 can provide an increased surfacearea of thermal material to reflect or retain heat in the combustionchamber. A cylinder insert 206 can be attached to the cylinder wall 118to further retain heat in the combustion chamber 104 and inhibit heattransfer to other parts of the engine. In some embodiments, thecombustion chamber insert 207 and cylinder wall insert 206 are orientedat various angles such as offset to one another. In further embodiments,the combustion chamber insert 207 and the cylinder wall insert 206 areoriented at the same angle relative to one another. One or more of theinserts can be aligned in an orientation transverse to the movement ofheat from combustion.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a combustion chamberassembly 300 configured in accordance with another embodiment of thedisclosure. The combustion chamber assembly 300 includes severalfeatures generally similar to the combustion chamber assembly 100described above with reference to FIG. 1. For example, the combustionchamber assembly includes an injector 116 configured to provide fuel(illustrated by fuel spray lines 303) and/or coolant injection to acombustion chamber 304. The combustion chamber assembly 300 can furtherinclude one or more intake valves 112 and one or more exhaust valves 114that allow fluid flow into and out of the combustion chamber 304,respectively, and a piston 320 moveable by a crank shaft and pressurefrom expanding gas in the combustion chamber 304. In the illustratedembodiment, the piston 320 includes a piston extension 305 attached tothe piston 320 and configured to move with the piston 320 and may alterthe size and shape of the combustion chamber 304. While the pistonextension 305 in the illustrated embodiment includes a double-curvedsurface facing the combustion chamber 304, other shapes may be used inother embodiments.

The combustion chamber assembly 300 includes a piston insert 310attached to the piston extension 305. The piston insert 310 lines atleast a portion of the curved surface of the piston extension 305 andfaces the combustion chamber 304. The piston insert 310 thereby blocks,seals, reflects, or otherwise retains heat in the combustion chamber 304to prevent the heat from transferring away from the combustion chamber304 to other zones of the engine assembly. In some embodiments, thepiston insert 310 is oriented transverse to the direction of heat flow.In other embodiments, the piston insert 310 can have other orientationsor can include layers or portions with different orientations. Thepiston insert 310 can be used alone or with any of the other insertsdescribed above.

Many of the details, dimensions, angles, shapes, and other featuresshown in the Figures are merely illustrative of particular embodimentsof the disclosure. Accordingly, other embodiments can have otherdetails, dimensions, angles, and features without departing from thespirit or scope of the present disclosure. For example, the embodimentsdisclosed herein can be used with various types of engines or relatedsystems known in the art. In addition, those of ordinary skill in theart will appreciate that further embodiments of the disclosure can bepracticed without several of the details described below.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic described in connection with the embodiment is includedin at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, theoccurrences of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” invarious places throughout this specification are not necessarily allreferring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features,structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner inone or more embodiments. The headings provided herein are forconvenience only and do not interpret the scope or meaning of theclaimed disclosure.

It will be apparent that various changes and modifications can be madewithout departing from the scope of the disclosure. Unless the contextclearly requires otherwise, throughout the description and the claims,the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and the like are to be construed inan inclusive sense as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense; thatis to say, in a sense of “including, but not limited to.” Words usingthe singular or plural number also include the plural or singularnumber, respectively. When the claims use the word “or” in reference toa list of two or more items, that word covers all of the followinginterpretations of the word: any of the items in the list, all of theitems in the list, and any combination of the items in the list.

Features of the various embodiments described above can be combined toprovide further embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patentapplication publications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents,foreign patent applications and non-patent publications referred to inthis specification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet areincorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of thedisclosure can be modified, if necessary, to employ combustion chamberassemblies with various configurations, and concepts of the variouspatents, applications, and publications to provide yet furtherembodiments of the disclosure.

These and other changes can be made to the disclosure in light of theabove detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the disclosure to thespecific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, butshould be construed to include all systems and methods that operate inaccordance with the claims. Accordingly, the invention is not limited bythe disclosure, but instead its scope is to be determined broadly by thefollowing claims.

The present application incorporates by reference in their entirety thesubject matter of each of the following U.S. Patent Applications:

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/027,051, titled, “FUEL INJECTORASSEMBLIES HAVING ACOUSTICAL FORCE MODIFIERS AND ASSOCIATED METHODS OFUSE AND MANUFACTURE,” filed Feb. 14, 2011; U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/027,214 titled, “ARCHITECTURAL CONSTRUCT HAVING FOR EXAMPLE APLURALITY OF ARCHITECTURAL CRYSTALS,” filed Feb. 14, 2011; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/027,170, titled, “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FORADAPTIVELY COOLING COMBUSTION CHAMBERS IN ENGINES,” filed Feb. 14, 2011.

I/we claim:
 1. A combustion chamber assembly comprising: a cylinderhaving a cylinder wall at least partially defining a combustion chamber;an intake valve movable between open and closed positions relative tothe cylinder wall, the intake valve having an intake valve surfaceexposed to the combustion chamber; an exhaust valve movable between openand closed positions relative to the cylinder wall, the exhaust valvehaving an exhaust valve surface exposed to the combustion chamber; and apiston movable relative to the cylinder wall, the piston having a pistonsurface exposed to the combustion chamber; wherein at least one of thecylinder, cylinder wall, the intake valve, the intake valve surface, theexhaust valve, the exhaust valve surface, the exhaust liner, the pistonand/or the piston surface includes an insulative portion composed of asynthetic matrix characterization of crystals that is configured tocontrol heat transfer in the combustion chamber that is generated from acombustion event in the combustion chamber.
 2. The assembly of claim 1wherein the synthetic matrix characterization of crystals is configuredto control heat transfer by providing thermal blocking in a firstdirection and thermal transfer in a second direction.
 3. The assembly ofclaim 1 wherein the insulative portion comprises a separate insertattached to the corresponding cylinder wall, valve, and/or piston. 4.The assembly of claim 1 wherein the insulative portion comprises acoating applied to the corresponding cylinder, cylinder wall, intakevalve, intake valve surface, exhaust valve, exhaust valve surface,exhaust liner, piston and/or piston surface.
 5. The assembly of claim 1wherein the insulative portion includes multiple spaced apart andparallel layers that are oriented generally transversely to a directionof thermal transfer resulting from the combustion event.
 6. The assemblyof claim 1 wherein the insulative portion comprises a fiber applied tothe corresponding cylinder, cylinder wall, intake valve, intake valvesurface, exhaust valve, exhaust valve surface, exhaust liner, pistonand/or piston surface.
 7. The assembly of claim 1 wherein the insulativeportion includes first spaced apart parallel layers that are oriented ata non-zero angle relative to second spaced apart parallel layers.
 8. Theassembly of claim 1 wherein the insulative portion is composed primarilyof layers of graphene or graphite.
 9. The assembly of claim 1 whereinthe insulative portion is composed primarily from one of the following:carbon and boron, carbon and silicon, carbon and nitride, boron nitride,aluminum nitride, silicon carbide, and silicon boride.
 10. An assemblycomprising: a combustion chamber at least partially defined by a firstsurface of a cylinder; an air flow valve movable relative to thecombustion chamber and having a second surface exposed to the combustionchamber; and an energy transfer device movable relative to thecombustion chamber and having a piston movable relative to the cylinderwall, the piston having a third surface exposed to the combustionchamber; wherein at least one of the first, second, and third surfacesis at least partially composed of a thermally insulative syntheticmatrix characterization of crystals.
 11. The assembly of claim 10wherein the insulative portion is a separate insert attached to thecorresponding cylinder wall, valve, and/or piston.
 12. The assembly ofclaim 10 wherein the insulative portion is a coating applied to thecorresponding cylinder wall, valve, and/or piston.
 13. The assembly ofclaim 10 wherein the insulative portion includes multiple spaced apartand parallel layers that are oriented generally transversely to adirection of thermal transfer resulting from the combustion event. 14.The assembly of claim 10 wherein the insulative portion includes firstspaced apart parallel layers that are oriented at a non-zero anglerelative to second spaced apart parallel layers.
 15. The assembly ofclaim 10 wherein the insulative portion is composed primarily of layersof graphene.
 16. The assembly of claim 10 wherein the insulative portionis composed primarily from one of the following: carbon and boron,carbon and silicon, carbon and nitride, boron nitride, aluminum nitride,silicon carbide, and silicon boride.
 17. A device for a component of acombustion chamber, the device comprising: a body having—a first sideconfigured to be attached to the combustion chamber component; a secondside configured to be exposed to a combustion event in the combustionchamber; and multiple spaced apart and parallel layers extending betweenthe first and second sides, wherein the layers are oriented in adirection generally transverse to a direction of thermal transfer fromthe combustion event.
 18. The device of claim 17 wherein the first sideof the body is configured to be attached directly to a piston.
 19. Thedevice of claim 17 wherein the first side of the body is configured tobe attached directly to the combustion chamber.
 20. The device of claim17 wherein the layers are a first group of layers for a first directionof thermal transfer and the body includes a second group of multiplespaced apart parallel layers oriented at a second non-zero anglerelative to the first group.
 21. The device of claim 17 wherein thelayers are comprised primarily of graphene or graphite.
 22. The deviceof claim 17 wherein the layers are composed primarily from one of thefollowing: carbon and boron, carbon and silicon, carbon and nitride,boron nitride, aluminum nitride, silicon carbide, and silicon boride.